Live Review

Childhood, Oslo, London

13th August 2014

Each colourful chord passes through the audience like a wave of caramel - if we weren’t so sticky it might have been quite romantic.

Words: James Bentley
Photos: Carolina Faruolo
17th August 2014

With debut album ‘Lacuna’ arriving this month, South Londoners Childhood are set to fulfil the promises they made when they started years ago – and what better way to do it than with an emotional sold out show at Hackney’s newest venue, Oslo. Theirs is a performance filled with confidence, and one that shows just how deserving these young heroes are of our admiration.

Shoegazey jangles partner Ben Romans-Hopcraft’s drifting vocals on singles ‘Falls Away’ and ‘As I Am’ – and from the start, the band are a commanding and accomplished presence. Krautrock juggernaut ‘Pay For Cool’ is even catchier on stage than it is on record (“Now you think I’m wrong”, coos their ever-impressive frontman), while the woozy riffs of ‘You Could Be Different’ epitomise the dusky vibe of the evening. A sweaty mist has no qualms about invading the stage in lieu of what might have been a more energetic crowd, were it not so tightly-packed together, but it makes for an appropriately dizzy atmosphere. Each colourful chord passes through the audience like a wave of caramel - if we weren’t so sticky it might have been quite romantic.

It all ends with an exhilarating rendition of the band’s breakout single ‘Solemn Skies’ – jammed into an extended guitar freak-out that finds Ben tangled up in the microphone with his axe strewn across the stage, and it’s a heady climax to a show that cements Childhood’s new position in the musical sphere. No longer simply a young Brixton band; they are now London’s leading psych troubadours. A magical achievement from an act who will surely enchant for years to come.

Support on the night came from Kid Wave.